Effects of Rice Straw on the Color and Microstructure of Bizen, a Traditional Japanese Stoneware, as a Function of Oxygen Partial Pressure

The effects of oxygen partial pressure during thermal treatment on the color and microstructure of Bizen, a traditional Japanese stoneware, were studied through model experiments using clay pellets covered lightly with rice straw as a coloring assistant. When heated in flowing nitrogen, the model pellet turned blackish owing to the formation of α-Fe particles coated with graphite. However, schreibersite (Fe₃P), which is also blackish, was formed specifically on the pellet surface in direct contact with the straw. The rice straw seems to have generated a strongly reducing atmosphere, strong enough for the metallization to α-Fe, and also to have provided phosphorus through contact. When oxygen content in the surrounding gas atmosphere was raised to N₂/O₂=99/1, the pellet surface turned yellowish brown because the main coloring material was Fe³⁺-containing mullite. At oxygen contents of N₂/O₂=98/2 or more, the formation of hematite (α-Fe₂O₃) pushed the color to deep red.     

Modeling and visualization of lifecycle building performance assessment

Lifecycle building performance assessment (LBPA) ensures that buildings perform and operate as intended during building lifecycle. Such assessment activities are typically multi-phase and multi-disciplinary, and generate large amounts of information that need efficient management. During the lifecycle of one building, multiple assessment methods are employed semi-concurrently and with a great deal of information overlap between successive phases. This information is semantically rich and context-dependent, reflecting the local perspective that it exists within. Usage of separate and disconnected tools for each method results in information fragmentation and redundancy, posing problems for well-informed decision making. The objective of this research is to develop an integral reference model, CLIP (Computational support for Lifecycle Integral Performance assessment), that aims to improve the efficiency and quality of existing performance assessment practices. The model provides flexible, modular, and extensible data structures and algorithms for the representation, transformation, integration, and visualization of performance information. The initial results support the CLIP model’s ability to deal with the local volatility and variation in the processes and information content that is being managed, while requiring further refinement and extension work to achieve a customized solution to fit in different contextual settings.     

Operating conditions of batteries in off-grid renewable energy systems

Operating conditions in off-grid renewable energy systems (RES) vary significantly in different applications and locations. To describe RES and the operating conditions of their components it is useful to define categories of similar operating conditions. Categories can also be used for lifetime considerations of RES components, for making recommendations and for analysing the properties and performance of a RES and its components. Categories support system designers and an economic analysis. This paper describes the process and the results of creating RES categories of similar operating conditions for batteries. Categories are defined in such a way that batteries belonging to the same category are subjected to similar operating conditions and a similar combination of stress factors. The results provide a comprehensive overview of battery operating conditions in existing off-grid renewable energy systems. This work is part of the EU research project Benchmarking.¹     

Evaluation of the 40 mg Swelling Test for Measuring Starch Functionality

This paper presents a small‐scale test for measuring starch quality and demonstrates its ability to predict end‐product quality. This 40 mg swelling test measures the swelling power of gelatinised starch by determining the mass of the final product after a defined gelatinisation process. It is compared with the larger scale swelling power and swelling volume tests and with other starch gel analyses methods (differential scanning calorimetry, hot stage microscopy and Rapid Visco Analyser). Suitability of the 40 mg swelling test as a small‐scale early generation breeding test for measuring starch quality is evaluated. This new method is also evaluated as being suitable to provide an indication of the end‐product quality of Japanese white salted noodles.     

Detection of Beer‐spoilage Lactobacillus brevis strains by Reduction of Resazurin

Lactobacillus brevis is the most common beer‐spoilage bacteria found in breweries. Due to its high prevalence and biodiversity, it is necessary to differentiate between the strains based on their hop tolerance. Forcing tests are often conducted for different types of beer, which can vary in cereal base, fermentation type, ethanol‐ and hop content. These conventional tests are considered to be the safest way to determine the ability of a given strain to cause beer‐spoilage, but they are very time consuming and costly. Since NADH₂ is used as cofactor by many cellular dehydrogenases, this study used the reduced form of intracellular nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH₂) as an indicator for microbial metabolic activity and thus ability to spoil beer, in order to reduce the time required to conduct the forcing tests for beer production. Beer‐spoiling L. brevis strains were detected among other strains in beer samples within two days (of sampling).     

Aspects of high hydrostatic pressure food processing: Perspectives on technology and food safety

The last two decades saw a steady increase of high hydrostatic pressure (HHP) used for treatment of foods. Although the science of biomaterials exposed to high pressure started more than a century ago, there still seem to be a number of unanswered questions regarding safety of foods processed using HHP. This review gives an overview on historical development and fundamental aspects of HHP, as well as on potential risks associated with HHP food applications based on available literature. Beside the combination of pressure and temperature, as major factors impacting inactivation of vegetative bacterial cells, bacterial endospores, viruses, and parasites, factors, such as food matrix, water content, presence of dissolved substances, and pH value, also have significant influence on their inactivation by pressure. As a result, pressure treatment of foods should be considered for specific food groups and in accordance with their specific chemical and physical properties. The pressure necessary for inactivation of viruses is in many instances slightly lower than that for vegetative bacterial cells; however, data for food relevant human virus types are missing due to the lack of methods for determining their infectivity. Parasites can be inactivated by comparatively lower pressure than vegetative bacterial cells. The degrees to which chemical reactions progress under pressure treatments are different to those of conventional thermal processes, for example, HHP leads to lower amounts of acrylamide and furan. Additionally, the formation of new unknown or unexpected substances has not yet been observed. To date, no safety-relevant chemical changes have been described for foods treated by HHP. Based on existing sensitization to non-HHP-treated food, the allergenic potential of HHP-treated food is more likely to be equivalent to untreated food. Initial findings on changes in packaging materials under HHP have not yet been adequately supported by scientific data.     

Central Role of Dendritic Cells in Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension in Human and Mice

The pathogenesis of idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension (IPAH) is not fully understood, but evidence is accumulating that immune dysfunction plays a significant role. We previously reported that 31-week-old Tnfaip3^DNGR1-KO mice develop pulmonary hypertension (PH) symptoms. These mice harbor a targeted deletion of the TNFα-induced protein-3 (Tnfaip3) gene, encoding the NF-κB regulatory protein A20, specifically in type I conventional dendritic cells (cDC1s). Here, we studied the involvement of dendritic cells (DCs) in PH in more detail. We found various immune cells, including DCs, in the hearts of Tnfaip3^DNGR1-KO mice, particularly in the right ventricle (RV). Secondly, in young Tnfaip3^DNGR1-KO mice, innate immune activation through airway exposure to toll-like receptor ligands essentially did not result in elevated RV pressures, although we did observe significant RV hypertrophy. Thirdly, PH symptoms in Tnfaip3^DNGR1-KO mice were not enhanced by concomitant mutation of bone morphogenetic protein receptor type 2 (Bmpr2), which is the most affected gene in PAH patients. Finally, in human IPAH lung tissue we found co-localization of DCs and CD8+ T cells, representing the main cell type activated by cDC1s. Taken together, these findings support a unique role of cDC1s in PAH pathogenesis, independent of general immune activation or a mutation in the Bmpr2 gene.     

PET/CT Imaging and Physiology of Mice on High Protein Diet

Background: High protein (HP) diets have been proposed to reduce body weight in humans. The diets are known to alter energy metabolism, which can affect the quality of [¹⁸F]FDG PET heart images. In this preclinical study, we therefore explore the impact of a prolonged HP diet on myocardial [¹⁸F]FDG uptake. Methods: C57BL/6J (Black six (Bl6)) and apolipoprotein E-deficient (apoE^−/−) mice were fed chow, a HP diet, or a low protein (LP) diet for 12 weeks. At baseline and after treatment, the animals were injected with 33.0 MBq of [¹⁸F]FDG and a 30 min PET/CT scan was made. Myocardial volume and [¹⁸F]FDG uptake were quantified using PET and the % of body fat was calculated from CT. Results: Myocardial [¹⁸F]FDG uptake was similar for all diets at the follow-up scan but an increase between baseline and follow-up scans was noticed in the LP groups. Myocardial volume was significantly smaller in the C57BL HP group compared to the other Bl6 groups. Body weight increased less in the two HP groups compared to the chow and LP groups. Body fat percentage was significantly higher in the LP groups. This effect was stronger in C57BL mice (28.7%) compared to apoE^−/− mice (15.1%). Conclusions: Myocardial uptake of [¹⁸F]FDG in mice is not affected by increased protein intake but [¹⁸F]FDG uptake increases when the amount of protein is lowered. A lower body weight and percentage of body fat were noticed when applying a HP diet.     

An energy-efficient air-conditioning system for hydrogen driven cars

In this paper a new operation principle of an air-conditioning system for hydrogen driven cars is proposed and experimental results of a laboratory prototype are presented. The system is able to utilize the potential energy of the compressed hydrogen gas as main driving energy to generate a cooling effect usable for e.g. air-conditioning. Therefore, it is able to partially reuse the compression energy originally spent in order to increase the energy density of hydrogen but is so far wasted onboard. The underlying principle of the process is based on a chemical reaction of a metal hydride (Ti_0.99Zr_0.01V_0.43Fe_0.09Cr_0.05Mn_1.5) with hydrogen at different pressures and corresponding equilibrium temperatures. The laboratory prototype consists of two alternating capillary tube bundle reactors (together around 5 kg and 1.5 l) and is able to generate a quasi-continuous cooling effect at 13 °C in the order of 900 W.     

5'-Nuclease PCR for quantitative event-specific detection of the genetically modified Mon810 MaisGard maize

Genetically modified maize is grown extensively in the world today. MaisGard (Monsanto, Yieldgard in the USA) is a genetically modified maize harbouring the Mon810 transformation event. European Community legislation requires that genetically modified organisms (GMOs) be approved before they are placed on the market. Labelling is required when more than 1% of any ingredient of a food originates from a GMO. There is consequently a need for specific, quantitative methods for detection of genetically modified foods. We have determined the DNA sequence of the 5'-flanking region of the Mon810 insert using ligation mediated PCR. A primer probe set overlapping the junction was designed and used in a quantitative, event-specific Taqman 5'-nuclease assay. Mon810 DNA was quantified relative to endogenous maize zein gene DNA. The results were expressed as the percentage of genetically modified Mon810 maize DNA relative to the total content of maize DNA.